Shenandoah National Park - Biodiversity

American black bear   Kingdom: Animalia – Animals are multicellular, eukaryotic organism belonging to the biological kingdom Animalia. Phylum: Chordata – A chordate is a bilaterian animal belonging to the phylum Chordata. They all possess, at some point during their larval or adult stages five distinctive physical characteristics that distinguish them from other taxa. Class: Mammalia – A mammal is a vertebrate animal of the class Mamalia. Mammals are characterized by the presence of milk-producing mammary glands for feeding their young. Infraclass: Placentalia – Is one of three extant subdivisions of the class Mammalia, the other two being Monotremata and Masupialla. Order: Carnivore – is an order of placental mammals specialized primarily in eating flesh, whose members are formally referred to as carnivorans. Subfamily: Ursinae – Is a subfamily of Ursidae (bears) named by Swainson (1835). Genus: Ursus – Is a genius in the family Ursidae (bears) that includes the ...

 

 iNaturalist: It is a great app to use while you're out in the field, especially if you have a cellular or Wi-Fi connection. I think it is one of the best resources for identifying new species of plants, insects, and animals. One of its most useful features allows you to pinpoint the exact location where you identified a species using an interactive map. The app also has a strong community component, allowing you to view observations from other users and see what species have been identified in your area or throughout the county. In addition, iNaturalist provides detailed information about the species you upload, making it an excellent educational resource. Overall, this is one of my favorite identification apps because it is accurate, easy to use, community-driven, and best of all, completely free. PictureThis: This is an excellent app for identifying plant species. It has an extensive database that helps accurately identify a wide variety of plants. One of its standout features i...

 

  The resources that I selected were the weather stations within Shenandoah National Park, as well as those located in the counties surrounding the park. By using the NOAA database, I was able to access weather records from numerous stations throughout the park and neighboring counties. These resources provide valuable historical data and allow for the analysis of long-term weather trends and patterns. In addition, incorporating weather stations from the surrounding counties provides a broader perspective on regional weather conditions and helps track weather systems as they move from west to east across the Blue Ridge Mountain ridges. This combination of data sources offers a more comprehensive understanding of both local and regional weather dynamics affecting Shenandoah National Park and the surrounding area. https://www.nps.gov/shen/planyourvisit/weather.htm   https://forecast.weather.gov/zipcity.php?inputstring=22849   https://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.ph...

  Web Soil Survey is a program I use regularly in my profession working in agriculture. We frequently use it when developing conservation plans and nutrient management plans for producers in our local area. It is an excellent resource for identifying specific soil types and characteristics. I also appreciate that you can download a PDF report from the shopping cart, which includes detailed information about the soils, their history, and maps of the selected area. Prior to this assignment, I had only used Web Soil Survey for individual agricultural fields. When I attempted to outline the entire national park, I discovered for the first time that the Area of Interest (AOI) was too large for the program to process. As a result, I narrowed my focus to Madison County, which made the polygon small enough to generate the report successfully.